McCain: I didn't want arms for Qadhafi

Sen. John McCain on Monday strongly disputed a U.S. diplomatic cable that said he pushed to help Muammar Qadhafi’s regime obtain military hardware two years ago, calling the notion “outrageous.”

The 2009 cable, released by the open information group WikiLeaks and written by staff at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, said in particular that McCain, at a meeting with Qadhafi and one of his sons, promised to help Libya obtain C-130 Hercules military cargo aircraft.

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Libya had bought eight C-130 Hercules military cargo aircraft in the 1970s, but had been prevented from importing them into the country due to a ban on arms sales. The diplomatic cable says that McCain “pledged to see what he could do to move things forward in Congress.”

“Sen. McCain assured Muatassim [Qadhafi, the Libyan leader’s fifth son] that the United States wanted to provide Libya with the equipment it needs for its … security,” adds the cable.

On Monday, McCain told Foreign Policy magazine that the diplomatic cable was incorrect, and that he had never pledged any help to Libya in obtaining military hardware. “Of course not, that would have been ridiculous,” he said. “I was noncommittal. … I never said anything and I never did a single thing to follow up.”

McCain’s comments echoed what his spokesperson Brian Rogers told POLITICO on Friday. “At no point did Sen. McCain ever promise to help the Qadhafi regime secure U.S. military assistance. Upon the his return to Washington, there were no follow-up discussions and no action taken by Sen. McCain or his staff to provide the Qadhafi regime with C-130s or any other military assistance,” Rogers said.

McCain suggested that the embassy may have had its own interests in mind when writing the diplomatic cable. “At that time, the embassy was very interested in having a relationship with Qadhafi, but I can’t imagine why that diplomat said the things they said. It’s beyond me,” McCain said.

“Overall, I thought it was a very strange and bizarre experience,” said McCain of his meeting with Qadhafi, which was delayed six hours and took place in the desert.